A photographer's blog.
Old Gate By luck and happenstance we found Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' home in the middle of central Florida's nowhere. Located on a narrow spit of land between Orange and Little Lochloosa Lake is her cracker style home and farm where she lived and wrote, "The Yearling". Volunteers "work" the restored farm and maintain the vegetable … Continue reading Gate to the Past
The walk to Siesta Key Beach begins here. In the early morning, as the rising Florida sun begins clearing the cloudy sky, the sea grass and wild flowers are minor distractions along the path to the "Best Beach in the USA". The beauty of this scene is made visible in print form by processing the … Continue reading Beach Walk
St. Augustine's Old Town reminds me of New Orleans, especially the ornate doorways. This wrought iron gate was the only opening in a tall stone wall surrounding the property. A glimpse of the brick courtyard with fountain and large sculptures provided more questions than answers. An overgrown yard hiding most of the house filled my … Continue reading Courtyard
St. Augustine , FL This beautiful seawall protects the Old Town area of St. Augustine, FL from high tides and storms along the Matanza River. It makes you feel safe, however, the seawall is no match for a hurricane. The recent flooding in eastern Nebraska, exacerbated by breached levees and failed dams, made me think … Continue reading Seawall
Lifeguard Station Early morning. Except for a few dedicated walkers on the shoreline, I had the beach to myself while I waited for the sun to break through the clouds. The sunrise was a non-event, too much cloud cover, but as it got lighter the day looked promising. My patience was rewarded when a few … Continue reading Lifeguard Station
Umbrellas - Cape Cod Nebraska's winter has been the worst in a long time. January was bitter cold with light snow, now two heavy snowfalls in the last five days and another heavy snowstorm on the horizon. I thought this picture might cheer things up. Nothing special about the photo itself; I just like the … Continue reading Umbrellas
The bobby's helmet rested on the corner post of a lonely bench in back of Beatrix Potter's home in England's Lake District. The bobby (slang for English police officer) was no where to be found. The rainy day did nothing to discourage visitors to the site; there was a steady stream of hardy souls wandering … Continue reading Bobby’s Helmet
I have a long standing tradition of having my picture taken with wooden American Indian sculptures, sometimes referred to as "cigar-store Indians". For some reason, in the Old West, they were always situated outside tobacco stores. This "fetish" of mine started on my honeymoon in the late 60's. We were in Deadwood, SD and my … Continue reading Tradition
About thirty miles west of London and just south of Newbury in Hampshire County on highway A339 is the small village of Headley. Very quaint. It seemed as every business in town was named "Headley"; e.g. Headley Tyre, Headley Stud and Headley House. Even the church had the Headley name on it, but I found … Continue reading St. Peters Church, England
Longboat Key, Florida is a long narrow spit of sand (Duh! It's a key) off the west coast of Florida, near Sarasota. For its size, it's not very populated and has limited things to offer visitors, like restaurants, nightlife and attractions. I would call it "quiet, laid back and relaxing"; others might call it boring. … Continue reading Longboat Key Library
The Church of St. Nicholas, where Jane Austen's father preached and she worshiped as a child, is located in a rural setting near the small town of Steventon in Hampshire County, England. Jane Austen was born in 1775. The original structure of this church was built centuries before Austen's birth. I marveled at the still-sturdy … Continue reading Steventon, England
On the banks of the Thames River sits the London Eye, a mere 200 meters downstream from the House of Parliament. The giant wheel measures 400 feet in diameter. A complete rotation of the wheel takes 30 minutes, such a slow rate that each of the 32 capsules can load and unload 28 passengers while … Continue reading London
John Harding (thoroughbred horse breeder) started Belle Meade in 1807 with 250 acres of land six miles west of Nashville, TN. He had the original house built in 1820, and then modernized in 1853 as his farm continued to grow. So modern for its time, the mansion had hot and cold running water and gas … Continue reading Belle Meade Plantation
This is my perception of what Nashville's Broadway Street would look like on a semi-perfect September day on a late afternoon weekday. While the shops, cars, neon lights and skyscrapers are an actual photo I took, the sky is my imagination. I was in Nashville for five days and saw only two hours of partial … Continue reading Broadway St., Nashville
While waiting for my luggage at the Nashville airport, I met someone from the area who was very helpful about things to see and do in the area, as well as good places to eat. Her #1 restaurant was Hattie B's, "OMG! They have the best hot chicken in the entire city". So, we went, … Continue reading Hattie B’s
What a lovely day! I'm sitting here on the beach all by myself, old and weathered but still strong, willing and able to serve anyone who needs help. I've been here for years, seen everything. At times it is so crowded that I can't make room for everyone. Other times it is lonely; I don't … Continue reading Cape Cod – Hyannis
Nebraska schools open in mid-August now, even the colleges are starting before Labor Day anymore. In Europe, however, September 1st is the "standard" opening day of school. September 1st is almost like a national holiday. Kids dress up, families dress up for formal pictures and escort their kids to school. Flowers are presented to the … Continue reading Back to School
On July 16, 2018, US President, Donald Trump met with Russian President, Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. They met in Finland's Presidential Palace, shown above. I stood across this narrow canal in August, 2017 and took this photo. Not because it looked like a palace, far from it, but just to document my presence. It … Continue reading Finland’s Presidential Palace
A bright young girl in Uduru Lutheran Parish's preschool shows the teacher she can count to 100. Located near Moshi, Tanzania, this typical preschool relies on the church, volunteers and donations to prepare their youngsters for primary school. The four year old students were so quiet and patient, I marveled at the teacher's control of the … Continue reading Learning to Count
Made famous by 1992 novel by Robert James Waller, 1995 movie starring Clint Eastwood & Meryl Streep, and 2013 Tony Award-winning musical, the "Bridges of Madison County" actually exist. Madison County, Iowa is southwest of Des Moines. The covered bridges that were subject of the famous title are still standing and a couple are still … Continue reading Madison County
